Premier-designate William Lai (賴清德) has named Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp (台灣證交所) chairman Shih Jun-ji (施俊吉) as the next vice premier and Democratic Progressive Party Deputy Secretary-General Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) as the next Cabinet secretary-general, the Executive Yuan said yesterday.
All incumbent ministers without portfolio will stay on, except for Chen Tain-jy (陳添枝), who serves concurrently as National Development Council minister, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said.
Cabinet Secretary-General Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) is to take over both positions from Chen Tain-jy, said Hsu, who confirmed that he would stay on as Cabinet spokesman.
Photo: CNA
Ill-gotten Party Assets Settlement Committee Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) is to become chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, Hsu said.
Responding to criticism that Koo does not have a financial background, Hsu said that Koo, as a lawyer, was trained in financial law and has the legal expertise required in overseeing financial bodies.
Former FSC chairman Sean Chen and former minister of finance Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) were also legal experts before they became financial chiefs, so Koo’s appointment should be acceptable, Hsu said.
Photo: CNA
All other appointments are to be announced today after Lai bids farewell to the Tainan City Government and council, Hsu said.
The new Cabinet is to be sworn in on Friday and an extraordinary Executive Yuan meeting is to be convened immediately, he said.
“Government management is a succession of works, and there are different missions in each stage. I will continue the policies unfinished by Premier Lin Chuan (林全) and employ the pragmatic ‘Tainan spirit’ to lead a new way,” Hsu quoted Lai as saying.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net